2 Samuel 22:19 - 1 Kings 7:37

New King James Version

David’s Last Words

23 Now these are the last words of David.

David’s Mighty Men^(AY)

⁸ These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: ^[n]Josheb-Basshebeth the Tachmonite, chief among ^[o]the captains. He was called Adino the Eznite, because he had killed eight hundred men at one time. ⁹ And after him was ^(AZ)Eleazar the son of ^[p]Dodo, the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel had retreated. ¹⁰ He arose and attacked the Philistines until his hand was ^(BA)weary, and his hand stuck to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to ^(BB)plunder. ¹¹ And after him was ^(BC)Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. ^(BD)The Philistines had gathered together into a troop where there was a piece of ground full of lentils. So the people fled from the Philistines. ¹² But he stationed himself in the middle of the field, defended it, and killed the Philistines. So the Lord brought about a great victory.

¹³ Then ^(BE)three of the thirty chief men went down at harvest time and came to David at ^(BF)the cave of Adullam. And the troop of Philistines encamped in ^(BG)the Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁴ David was then in ^(BH)the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. ¹⁵ And David said with longing, “Oh, that someone would give me a drink of the water from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!” ¹⁶ So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines, drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless he would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord. ¹⁷ And he said, “Far be it from me, O Lord, that I should do this! Is this not ^(BI)the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it.

These things were done by the three mighty men.

¹⁸ Now ^(BJ)Abishai the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of ^[q]another three. He lifted his spear against three hundred men, killed them, and won a name among these three. ¹⁹ Was he not the most honored of three? Therefore he became their captain. However, he did not attain to the first three.

²⁰ Benaiah was the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man from ^(BK)Kabzeel, ^[r]who had done many deeds. ^(BL)He had killed two lion-like heroes of Moab. He also had gone down and killed a lion in the midst of a pit on a snowy day. ²¹ And he killed an Egyptian, ^[s]a spectacular man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand; so he went down to him with a staff, wrested the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear. ²² These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and won a name among three mighty men. ²³ He was more honored than the thirty, but he did not attain to the first three. And David appointed him ^(BM)over his guard.

^24 (BN)Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, ^25 (BO)Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite, ²⁶ Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, ²⁷ Abiezer the Anathothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite, ²⁸ Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite, ²⁹ Heleb the son of Baanah (the Netophathite), Ittai the son of Ribai from Gibeah of the children of Benjamin, ³⁰ Benaiah a Pirathonite, Hiddai from the brooks of ^(BP)Gaash, ³¹ Abi-Albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite, ³² Eliahba the Shaalbonite (of the sons of Jashen), Jonathan, ^33 (BQ)Shammah the ^[t]Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Hararite, ³⁴ Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maachathite, Eliam the son of ^(BR)Ahithophel the Gilonite, ^35 [u]Hezrai the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite, ³⁶ Igal the son of Nathan of ^(BS)Zobah, Bani the Gadite, ³⁷ Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite (armorbearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah), ^38 (BT)Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, ³⁹ and ^(BU)Uriah the Hittite: thirty-seven in all.

David’s Census of Israel and Judah^(BV)

24 Again ^(BW)the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, ^(BX)“Go, ^[v]number Israel and Judah.”

² So the king said to Joab the commander of the army who was with him, “Now go throughout all the tribes of Israel, ^(BY)from Dan to Beersheba, and count the people, that ^(BZ)I may know the number of the people.”

³ And Joab said to the king, “Now may the Lord your God ^(CA)add to the people a hundred times more than there are, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king desire this thing?” ⁴ Nevertheless the king’s word ^[w]prevailed against Joab and against the captains of the army. Therefore Joab and the captains of the army went out from the presence of the king to count the people of Israel.

⁵ And they crossed over the Jordan and camped in ^(CB)Aroer, on the right side of the town which is in the midst of the ravine of Gad, and toward ^(CC)Jazer. ⁶ Then they came to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim Hodshi; they came to ^(CD)Dan Jaan and around to ^(CE)Sidon; ⁷ and they came to the stronghold of ^(CF)Tyre and to all the cities of the ^(CG)Hivites and the Canaanites. Then they went out to South Judah as far as Beersheba. ⁸ So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. ⁹ Then Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to the king. ^(CH)And there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.

The Judgment on David’s Sin^(CI)

¹⁰ And ^(CJ)David’s heart condemned him after he had numbered the people. So ^(CK)David said to the Lord, ^(CL)“I have sinned greatly in what I have done; but now, I pray, O Lord, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have ^(CM)done very foolishly.”

¹¹ Now when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet ^(CN)Gad, David’s ^(CO)seer, saying, ¹² “Go and tell David, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I offer you three things; choose one of them for yourself, that I may do it to you.” ’ ” ¹³ So Gad came to David and told him; and he said to him, “Shall ^(CP)seven^[x] years of famine come to you in your land? Or shall you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ plague in your land? Now consider and see what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.”

¹⁴ And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the Lord, ^(CQ)for His mercies are great; but ^(CR)do not let me fall into the hand of man.”

¹⁵ So ^(CS)the Lord sent a plague upon Israel from the morning till the appointed time. From Dan to Beersheba seventy thousand men of the people died. ^16 (CT)And when the ^[y]angel stretched out His hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, ^(CU)the Lord relented from the destruction, and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “It is enough; now restrain your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of ^[z]Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁷ Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Surely ^(CV)I have sinned, and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father’s house.”

The Altar on the Threshing Floor^(CW)

¹⁸ And Gad came that day to David and said to him, ^(CX)“Go up, erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” ¹⁹ So David, according to the word of Gad, went up as the Lord commanded. ²⁰ Now Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming toward him. So Araunah went out and bowed before the king with his face to the ground.

²¹ Then Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?”

^(CY)And David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, to build an altar to the Lord, that ^(CZ)the plague may be withdrawn from the people.”

²² Now Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up whatever seems good to him. ^(DA)Look, here are oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing implements and the yokes of the oxen for wood. ²³ All these, O king, Araunah has given to the king.”

And Araunah said to the king, “May the Lord your God ^(DB)accept you.”

²⁴ Then the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing.” So ^(DC)David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. ²⁵ And David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. ^(DD)So the Lord heeded the prayers for the land, and ^(DE)the plague was withdrawn from Israel.

Adonijah Presumes to Be King

1 Now King David was ^(DF)old, ^[aa]advanced in years; and they put covers on him, but he could not get warm. ² Therefore his servants said to him, “Let a young woman, a virgin, be sought for our lord the king, and let her ^[ab]stand before the king, and let her care for him; and let her lie in your bosom, that our lord the king may be warm.” ³ So they sought for a lovely young woman throughout all the territory of Israel, and found ^(DG)Abishag the ^(DH)Shunammite, and brought her to the king. ⁴ The young woman was very lovely; and she cared for the king, and served him; but the king did not know her.

⁵ Then ^(DI)Adonijah the ^[ac]son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will ^[ad]be king”; and ^(DJ)he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. ⁶ (And his father had not ^[ae]rebuked him at any time by saying, “Why have you done so?” He was also very good-looking. ^(DK)His mother had borne him after Absalom.) ⁷ Then he conferred with ^(DL)Joab the son of Zeruiah and with ^(DM)Abiathar the priest, and ^(DN)they followed and helped Adonijah. ⁸ But ^(DO)Zadok the priest, ^(DP)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, ^(DQ)Nathan the prophet, ^(DR)Shimei, Rei, and ^(DS)the mighty men who belonged to David were not with Adonijah.

⁹ And Adonijah sacrificed sheep and oxen and fattened cattle by the stone of ^[af]Zoheleth, which is by ^(DT)En Rogel;^[ag] he also invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah, the king’s servants. ¹⁰ But he did not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the mighty men, or ^(DU)Solomon his brother.

¹¹ So Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, “Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of ^(DV)Haggith has become king, and David our lord does not know it? ¹² Come, please, let me now give you advice, that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon. ¹³ Go immediately to King David and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord, O king, swear to your maidservant, saying, ^(DW)“Assuredly your son Solomon shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne”? Why then has Adonijah become king?’ ¹⁴ Then, while you are still talking there with the king, I also will come in after you and confirm your words.”

¹⁵ So Bathsheba went into the chamber to the king. (Now the king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was serving the king.) ¹⁶ And Bathsheba bowed and did homage to the king. Then the king said, “What is your wish?”

¹⁷ Then she said to him, “My lord, ^(DX)you swore by the Lord your God to your maidservant, saying, ‘Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.’ ¹⁸ So now, look! Adonijah has become king; and now, my lord the king, you do not know about it. ^19 (DY)He has sacrificed oxen and fattened cattle and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the sons of the king, Abiathar the priest, and Joab the commander of the army; but Solomon your servant he has not invited. ²⁰ And as for you, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, that you should tell them who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. ²¹ Otherwise it will happen, when my lord the king ^(DZ)rests with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be counted as offenders.”

²² And just then, while she was still talking with the king, Nathan the prophet also came in. ²³ So they told the king, saying, “Here is Nathan the prophet.” And when he came in before the king, he bowed down before the king with his face to the ground. ²⁴ And Nathan said, “My lord, O king, have you said, ‘Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne’? ^25 (EA)For he has gone down today, and has sacrificed oxen and fattened cattle and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king’s sons, and the commanders of the army, and Abiathar the priest; and look! They are eating and drinking before him; and they say, ^(EB)‘Long^[ah] live King Adonijah!’ ²⁶ But he has not invited me—me your servant—nor Zadok the priest, nor Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, nor your servant Solomon. ²⁷ Has this thing been done by my lord the king, and you have not told your servant who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?”

David Proclaims Solomon King^(EC)

²⁸ Then King David answered and said, “Call Bathsheba to me.” So she came into the king’s presence and stood before the king. ²⁹ And the king took an oath and said, ^(ED)“As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from every distress, ^30 (EE)just as I swore to you by the Lord God of Israel, saying, ‘Assuredly Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place,’ so I certainly will do this day.”

³¹ Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth, and paid homage to the king, and said, ^(EF)“Let my lord King David live forever!”

³² And King David said, “Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.” So they came before the king. ³³ The king also said to them, ^(EG)“Take with you the servants of your lord, and have Solomon my son ride on my own ^(EH)mule, and take him down to ^(EI)Gihon.^{[ai] 34} There let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet ^(EJ)anoint him king over Israel; and ^(EK)blow the horn, and say, ^[aj]‘Long live King Solomon!’ ³⁵ Then you shall come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne, and he shall be king in my place. For I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah.”

³⁶ Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king and said, ^(EL)“Amen! May the Lord God of my lord the king say so too. ^37 (EM)As the Lord has been with my lord the king, even so may He be with Solomon, and ^(EN)make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.”

³⁸ So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, ^(EO)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the ^(EP)Cherethites, and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David’s mule, and took him to Gihon. ³⁹ Then Zadok the priest took a horn of ^(EQ)oil from the tabernacle and ^(ER)anointed Solomon. And they blew the horn, ^(ES)and all the people said, ^[ak]“Long live King Solomon!” ⁴⁰ And all the people went up after him; and the people played the flutes and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth seemed to split with their sound.

⁴¹ Now Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the horn, he said, “Why is the city in such a noisy uproar?” ⁴² While he was still speaking, there came ^(ET)Jonathan, the son of Abiathar the priest. And Adonijah said to him, “Come in, for ^(EU)you are a prominent man, and bring good news.”

⁴³ Then Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, “No! Our lord King David has made Solomon king. ⁴⁴ The king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites; and they have made him ride on the king’s mule. ⁴⁵ So Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon; and they have gone up from there rejoicing, so that the city is in an uproar. This is the noise that you have heard. ⁴⁶ Also Solomon ^(EV)sits on the throne of the kingdom. ⁴⁷ And moreover the king’s servants have gone to bless our lord King David, saying, ^(EW)‘May God make the name of Solomon better than your name, and may He make his throne greater than your throne.’ ^(EX)Then the king bowed himself on the bed. ⁴⁸ Also the king said thus, ‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who has ^(EY)given one to sit on my throne this day, while my eyes see ^(EZ)it!’ ”

⁴⁹ So all the guests who were with Adonijah were afraid, and arose, and each one went his way.

⁵⁰ Now Adonijah was afraid of Solomon; so he arose, and went and ^(FA)took hold of the horns of the altar. ⁵¹ And it was told Solomon, saying, “Indeed Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon; for look, he has taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon swear to me today that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.’ ”

⁵² Then Solomon said, “If he proves himself a worthy man, ^(FB)not one hair of him shall fall to the earth; but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die.” ⁵³ So King Solomon sent them to bring him down from the altar. And he came and fell down before King Solomon; and Solomon said to him, “Go to your house.”

David’s Instructions to Solomon

2 Now ^(FC)the days of David drew near that he should die, and he ^[al]charged Solomon his son, saying: ^2 (FD)“I go the way of all the earth; ^(FE)be strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man. ³ And keep the charge of the Lord your God: to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may ^(FF)prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn; ⁴ that the Lord may ^(FG)fulfill His word which He spoke concerning me, saying, ^(FH)‘If your sons take heed to their way, to ^(FI)walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul,’ He said, ^(FJ)‘you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’

⁵ “Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah ^(FK)did to me, and what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to ^(FL)Abner the son of Ner and ^(FM)Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed. And he shed the blood of war in peacetime, and put the blood of war on his belt that was around his waist, and on his sandals that were on his feet. ⁶ Therefore do ^(FN)according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray hair go down to the grave in peace.

⁷ “But show kindness to the sons of ^(FO)Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who ^(FP)eat at your table, for so ^(FQ)they came to me when I fled from Absalom your brother.

⁸ “And see, you have with you ^(FR)Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite from Bahurim, who cursed me with a malicious curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim. But ^(FS)he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and ^(FT)I swore to him by the Lord, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’ ⁹ Now therefore, ^(FU)do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man and know what you ought to do to him; but ^(FV)bring his gray hair down to the grave with blood.”

Death of David^(FW)

¹⁰ So ^(FX)David ^[am]rested with his fathers, and was buried in ^(FY)the City of David. ¹¹ The period that David ^(FZ)reigned over Israel was forty years; seven years he reigned in Hebron, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years. ^12 (GA)Then Solomon sat on the throne of his father David; and his kingdom was ^(GB)firmly established.

Solomon Executes Adonijah

¹³ Now Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. So she said, ^(GC)“Do you come peaceably?”

And he said, “Peaceably.” ¹⁴ Moreover he said, “I have something to say to you.”

And she said, “Say it.”

¹⁵ Then he said, “You know that the kingdom was ^(GD)mine, and all Israel had set their expectations on me, that I should reign. However, the kingdom has been turned over, and has become my brother’s; for ^(GE)it was his from the Lord. ¹⁶ Now I ask one petition of you; do not ^[an]deny me.”

And she said to him, “Say it.”

¹⁷ Then he said, “Please speak to King Solomon, for he will not refuse you, that he may give me ^(GF)Abishag the Shunammite as wife.”

¹⁸ So Bathsheba said, “Very well, I will speak for you to the king.”

¹⁹ Bathsheba therefore went to King Solomon, to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her and ^(GG)bowed down to her, and sat down on his throne and had a throne set for the king’s mother; ^(GH)so she sat at his right hand. ²⁰ Then she said, “I desire one small petition of you; do not ^[ao]refuse me.”

And the king said to her, “Ask it, my mother, for I will not refuse you.”

²¹ So she said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as wife.”

²² And King Solomon answered and said to his mother, “Now why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also—for he is my ^(GI)older brother—for him, and for ^(GJ)Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.” ²³ Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, ^(GK)“May God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life! ²⁴ Now therefore, as the Lord lives, who has confirmed me and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has established a ^[ap]house for me, as He ^(GL)promised, Adonijah shall be put to death today!”

²⁵ So King Solomon sent by the hand of ^(GM)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he struck him down, and he died.

Abiathar Exiled, Joab Executed

²⁶ And to Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go to ^(GN)Anathoth, to your own fields, for ^[aq]you are deserving of death; but I will not put you to death at this time, ^(GO)because you carried the ark of the Lord God before my father David, and because you were afflicted every time my father was afflicted.” ²⁷ So Solomon removed Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, that he might ^(GP)fulfill the word of the Lord which He spoke concerning the house of Eli at Shiloh.

²⁸ Then news came to Joab, for Joab ^(GQ)had defected to Adonijah, though he had not defected to Absalom. So Joab fled to the tabernacle of the Lord, and ^(GR)took hold of the horns of the altar. ²⁹ And King Solomon was told, “Joab has fled to the tabernacle of the Lord; there he is, by the altar.” Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, ^(GS)strike him down.” ³⁰ So Benaiah went to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said to him, “Thus says the king, ^(GT)‘Come out!’ ”

And he said, “No, but I will die here.” And Benaiah brought back word to the king, saying, “Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.”

³¹ Then the king said to him, ^(GU)“Do as he has said, and strike him down and bury him, ^(GV)that you may take away from me and from the house of my father the innocent blood which Joab shed. ³² So the Lord ^(GW)will return his ^[ar]blood on his head, because he struck down two men more righteous ^(GX)and better than he, and killed them with the sword—^(GY)Abner the son of Ner, the commander of the army of Israel, and ^(GZ)Amasa the son of Jether, the commander of the army of Judah—though my father David did not know it. ³³ Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab and ^(HA)upon the head of his descendants forever. ^(HB)But upon David and his descendants, upon his house and his throne, there shall be peace forever from the Lord.”

³⁴ So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and struck and killed him; and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. ³⁵ The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his place over the army, and the king put ^(HC)Zadok the priest in the place of ^(HD)Abiathar.

Shimei Executed

³⁶ Then the king sent and called for ^(HE)Shimei, and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go out from there anywhere. ³⁷ For it shall be, on the day you go out and cross ^(HF)the Brook Kidron, know for certain you shall surely die; ^(HG)your ^[as]blood shall be on your own head.”

³⁸ And Shimei said to the king, “The saying is good. As my lord the king has said, so your servant will do.” So Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days.

³⁹ Now it happened at the end of three years, that two slaves of Shimei ran away to ^(HH)Achish the son of Maachah, king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, “Look, your slaves are in Gath!” ⁴⁰ So Shimei arose, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to seek his slaves. And Shimei went and brought his slaves from Gath. ⁴¹ And Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had come back. ⁴² Then the king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the Lord, and warn you, saying, ‘Know for certain that on the day you go out and travel anywhere, you shall surely die’? And you said to me, ‘The word I have heard is good.’ ⁴³ Why then have you not kept the oath of the Lord and the commandment that I gave you?” ⁴⁴ The king said moreover to Shimei, “You know, as your heart acknowledges, ^(HI)all the wickedness that you did to my father David; therefore the Lord will ^(HJ)return your wickedness on your own head. ⁴⁵ But King Solomon shall be blessed, and ^(HK)the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever.”

⁴⁶ So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he went out and struck him down, and he died. Thus the ^(HL)kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.

Solomon Requests Wisdom^(HM)

3 Now ^(HN)Solomon made ^[at]a treaty with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and married Pharaoh’s daughter; then he brought her ^(HO)to the City of David until he had finished building his ^(HP)own house, and ^(HQ)the house of the Lord, and ^(HR)the wall all around Jerusalem. ^2 (HS)Meanwhile the people sacrificed at the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those days. ³ And Solomon ^(HT)loved the Lord, ^(HU)walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places.

⁴ Now ^(HV)the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, ^(HW)for that was the great high place: Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. ^5 (HX)At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon ^(HY)in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask! What shall I give you?”

^6 (HZ)And Solomon said: “You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father, because he ^(IA)walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You ^(IB)have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. ⁷ Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a ^(IC)little child; I do not know how ^(ID)to go out or come in. ⁸ And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You ^(IE)have chosen, a great people, ^(IF)too numerous to be numbered or counted. ^9 (IG)Therefore give to Your servant an ^[au]understanding heart ^(IH)to judge Your people, that I may ^(II)discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?”

¹⁰ The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. ¹¹ Then God said to him: “Because you have asked this thing, and have ^(IJ)not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, ^12 (IK)behold, I have done according to your words; ^(IL)see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. ¹³ And I have also ^(IM)given you what you have not asked: both ^(IN)riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days. ¹⁴ So ^(IO)if you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, ^(IP)as your father David walked, then I will ^(IQ)lengthen^[av] your days.”

¹⁵ Then Solomon ^(IR)awoke; and indeed it had been a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, offered up burnt offerings, offered peace offerings, and ^(IS)made a feast for all his servants.

Solomon’s Wise Judgment

¹⁶ Now two women who were harlots came to the king, and ^(IT)stood before him. ¹⁷ And one woman said, “O my lord, this woman and I dwell in the same house; and I gave birth while she was in the house. ¹⁸ Then it happened, the third day after I had given birth, that this woman also gave birth. And we were together; ^[aw]no one was with us in the house, except the two of us in the house. ¹⁹ And this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him. ²⁰ So she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from my side, while your maidservant slept, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. ²¹ And when I rose in the morning to nurse my son, there he was, dead. But when I had examined him in the morning, indeed, he was not my son whom I had borne.”

²² Then the other woman said, “No! But the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son.”

And the first woman said, “No! But the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son.”

Thus they spoke before the king.

²³ And the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son, who lives, and your son is the dead one’; and the other says, ‘No! But your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’ ” ²⁴ Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king. ²⁵ And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to one, and half to the other.”

²⁶ Then the woman whose son was living spoke to the king, for ^(IU)she yearned with compassion for her son; and she said, “O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him!”

But the other said, “Let him be neither mine nor yours, but divide him.”

²⁷ So the king answered and said, “Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him; she is his mother.”

²⁸ And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had rendered; and they feared the king, for they saw that the ^(IV)wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.

Solomon’s Administration

4 So King Solomon was king over all Israel. ² And these were his officials: Azariah the son of Zadok, the priest; ³ Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, ^[ax]scribes; ^(IW)Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder; ^4 (IX)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, over the army; Zadok and ^(IY)Abiathar, the priests; ⁵ Azariah the son of Nathan, over ^(IZ)the officers; Zabud the son of Nathan, ^(JA)a priest and ^(JB)the king’s friend; ⁶ Ahishar, over the household; and ^(JC)Adoniram the son of Abda, over the labor force.

⁷ And Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household; each one made provision for one month of the year. ⁸ These are their names: ^[ay]Ben-Hur, in the mountains of Ephraim; ^9 [az]Ben-Deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh, and Elon Beth Hanan; ^10 [ba]Ben-Hesed, in Arubboth; to him belonged Sochoh and all the land of Hepher; ^11 [bb]Ben-Abinadab, in all the regions of Dor; he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as wife; ¹² Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all Beth Shean, which is beside Zaretan below Jezreel, from Beth Shean to Abel Meholah, as far as the other side of Jokneam; ^13 [bc]Ben-Geber, in Ramoth Gilead; to him belonged ^(JD)the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, in Gilead; to him also belonged ^(JE)the region of Argob in Bashan—sixty large cities with walls and bronze gate-bars; ¹⁴ Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; ^15 (JF)Ahimaaz, in Naphtali; he also took Basemath the daughter of Solomon as wife; ¹⁶ Baanah the son of ^(JG)Hushai, in Asher and Aloth; ¹⁷ Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar; ^18 (JH)Shimei the son of Elah, in Benjamin; ¹⁹ Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, in ^(JI)the country of Sihon king of the Amorites, and of Og king of Bashan. He was the only governor who was in the land.

Prosperity and Wisdom of Solomon’s Reign

²⁰ Judah and Israel were as numerous ^(JJ)as the sand by the sea in multitude, ^(JK)eating and drinking and rejoicing. ²¹ So ^(JL)Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from ^(JM)the^[bd] River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. ^(JN)They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

^22 (JO)Now Solomon’s ^[be]provision for one day was thirty ^[bf]kors of fine flour, sixty kors of meal, ²³ ten fatted oxen, twenty oxen from the pastures, and one hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fatted fowl.

²⁴ For he had dominion over all the region on this side of ^[bg]the River from Tiphsah even to Gaza, namely over ^(JP)all the kings on this side of the River; and ^(JQ)he had peace on every side all around him. ²⁵ And Judah and Israel ^(JR)dwelt^[bh] safely, ^(JS)each man under his vine and his fig tree, ^(JT)from Dan as far as Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.

^26 (JU)Solomon had ^[bi]forty thousand stalls of ^(JV)horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. ²⁷ And ^(JW)these governors, each man in his month, provided food for King Solomon and for all who came to King Solomon’s table. There was no lack in their supply. ²⁸ They also brought barley and straw to the proper place, for the horses and steeds, each man according to his charge.

²⁹ And ^(JX)God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore. ³⁰ Thus Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men ^(JY)of the East and all ^(JZ)the wisdom of Egypt. ³¹ For he was ^(KA)wiser than all men—^(KB)than Ethan the Ezrahite, ^(KC)and Heman, Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. ^32 (KD)He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his ^(KE)songs were one thousand and five. ³³ Also he spoke of trees, from the cedar tree of Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall; he spoke also of animals, of birds, of creeping things, and of fish. ³⁴ And men of all nations, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom, ^(KF)came to hear the wisdom of Solomon.

Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple^(KG)

5 Now ^(KH)Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, because he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, ^(KI)for Hiram had always loved David. ² Then ^(KJ)Solomon sent to Hiram, saying:

⁷ So it was, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly and said,

⁸ Then Hiram sent to Solomon, saying:

¹⁰ Then Hiram gave Solomon cedar and cypress logs according to all his desire. ^11 (KS)And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand ^[bn]kors of wheat as food for his household, and ^[bo]twenty kors of pressed oil. Thus Solomon gave to Hiram year by year.

¹² So the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, ^(KT)as He had promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty together.

¹³ Then King Solomon raised up a labor force out of all Israel; and the labor force was thirty thousand men. ¹⁴ And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month in shifts: they were one month in Lebanon and two months at home; ^(KU)Adoniram was in charge of the labor force. ^15 (KV)Solomon had seventy thousand who carried burdens, and eighty thousand who quarried stone in the mountains, ¹⁶ besides three thousand ^[bp]three hundred from the ^(KW)chiefs of Solomon’s deputies, who supervised the people who labored in the work. ¹⁷ And the king commanded them to quarry large stones, costly stones, and ^(KX)hewn stones, to lay the foundation of the ^[bq]temple. ¹⁸ So Solomon’s builders, Hiram’s builders, and the Gebalites quarried them; and they prepared timber and stones to build the ^[br]temple.

Solomon Builds the Temple^(KY)

6 And ^(KZ)it came to pass in the four hundred and ^[bs]eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of ^[bt]Ziv, which is the second month, ^(LA)that he began to build the house of the Lord. ² Now ^(LB)the house which King Solomon built for the Lord, its length was sixty cubits, its width twenty, and its height thirty cubits. ³ The vestibule in front of the ^[bu]sanctuary of the house was ^[bv]twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and the width of ^[bw]the vestibule extended ^[bx]ten cubits from the front of the house. ⁴ And he made for the house ^(LC)windows with beveled frames.

⁵ Against the wall of the ^[by]temple he built ^(LD)chambers all around, against the walls of the temple, all around the sanctuary ^(LE)and the ^[bz]inner sanctuary. Thus he made side chambers all around it. ⁶ The lowest chamber was five cubits wide, the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide; for he made narrow ledges around the outside of the temple, so that the support beams would not be fastened into the walls of the ^[ca]temple. ⁷ And ^(LF)the temple, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built. ⁸ The doorway for the ^[cb]middle story was on the right side of the temple. They went up by stairs to the middle story, and from the middle to the third.

^9 (LG)So he built the ^[cc]temple and finished it, and he paneled the temple with beams and boards of cedar. ¹⁰ And he built side chambers against the entire temple, each five cubits high; they were attached to the temple with cedar beams.

¹¹ Then the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying: ¹² “Concerning this ^[cd]temple which you are building, ^(LH)if you walk in My statutes, execute My judgments, keep all My commandments, and walk in them, then I will perform My ^[ce]word with you, ^(LI)which I spoke to your father David. ¹³ And ^(LJ)I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not ^(LK)forsake My people Israel.”

¹⁴ So Solomon built the temple and finished it. ¹⁵ And he built the inside walls of the temple with cedar boards; from the floor of the temple to the ceiling he paneled the inside with wood; and he covered the floor of the temple with planks of cypress. ¹⁶ Then he built the twenty-cubit room at the rear of the temple, from floor to ceiling, with cedar boards; he built it inside as the inner sanctuary, as the ^(LL)Most Holy Place. ¹⁷ And in front of it the temple sanctuary was forty cubits long. ¹⁸ The inside of the temple was cedar, carved with ornamental buds and open flowers. All was cedar; there was no stone to be seen.

¹⁹ And he prepared the ^[cf]inner sanctuary inside the temple, to set the ark of the covenant of the Lord there. ²⁰ The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high. He overlaid it with pure gold, and overlaid the altar of cedar. ²¹ So Solomon overlaid the inside of the temple with pure gold. He stretched gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold. ²² The whole temple he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the temple; also he overlaid with gold ^(LM)the entire altar that was by the inner sanctuary.

²³ Inside the inner sanctuary ^(LN)he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high. ²⁴ One wing of the cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of the cherub five cubits: ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other. ²⁵ And the other cherub was ten cubits; both cherubim were of the same size and shape. ²⁶ The height of one cherub was ten cubits, and so was the other cherub. ²⁷ Then he set the cherubim inside the inner ^[cg]room; and ^(LO)they stretched out the wings of the cherubim so that the wing of the one touched one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall. And their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. ²⁸ Also he overlaid the cherubim with gold.

²⁹ Then he carved all the walls of the temple all around, both the inner and outer sanctuaries, with carved ^(LP)figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. ³⁰ And the floor of the temple he overlaid with gold, both the inner and outer sanctuaries.

³¹ For the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood; the lintel and doorposts were ^[ch]one-fifth of the wall. ³² The two doors were of olive wood; and he carved on them figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold; and he spread gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees. ³³ So for the door of the ^[ci]sanctuary he also made doorposts of olive wood, ^[cj]one-fourth of the wall. ³⁴ And the two doors were of cypress wood; ^(LQ)two panels comprised one folding door, and two panels comprised the other folding door. ³⁵ Then he carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers on them, and overlaid them with gold applied evenly on the carved work.

³⁶ And he built the ^(LR)inner court with three rows of hewn stone and a row of cedar beams.

^37 (LS)In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid, in the month of ^[ck]Ziv. ³⁸ And in the eleventh year, in the month of ^[cl]Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its details and according to all its plans. So he was ^(LT)seven years in building it.

Solomon’s Other Buildings

7 But Solomon took ^(LU)thirteen years to build his own house; so he finished all his house.

² He also built the ^(LV)House of the Forest of Lebanon; its length was ^[cm]one hundred cubits, its width ^[cn]fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits, with four rows of cedar pillars, and cedar beams on the pillars. ³ And it was paneled with cedar above the beams that were on forty-five pillars, fifteen to a row. ⁴ There were windows with beveled frames in three rows, and window was opposite window in three tiers. ⁵ And all the doorways and doorposts had rectangular frames; and window was opposite window in three tiers.

⁶ He also made the Hall of Pillars: its length was fifty cubits, and its width thirty cubits; and in front of them was a portico with pillars, and a canopy was in front of them.

⁷ Then he made a hall for the throne, the Hall of Judgment, where he might judge; and it was paneled with cedar from floor to ^[co]ceiling.

⁸ And the house where he dwelt had another court inside the hall, of like workmanship. Solomon also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, ^(LW)whom he had taken as wife.

⁹ All these were of costly stones cut to size, trimmed with saws, inside and out, from the foundation to the eaves, and also on the outside to the great court. ¹⁰ The foundation was of costly stones, large stones, some ten cubits and some eight cubits. ¹¹ And above were costly stones, hewn to size, and cedar wood. ¹² The great court was enclosed with three rows of hewn stones and a row of cedar beams. So were the ^(LX)inner court of the house of the Lord ^(LY)and the vestibule of the temple.

Hiram the Craftsman

¹³ Now King Solomon sent and brought ^[cp]Huram from Tyre. ^14 (LZ)He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and ^(MA)his father was a man of Tyre, a bronze worker; ^(MB)he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill in working with all kinds of bronze work. So he came to King Solomon and did all his work.

The Bronze Pillars for the Temple^(MC)

¹⁵ And he ^[cq]cast ^(MD)two pillars of bronze, each one eighteen cubits high, and a line of twelve cubits measured the circumference of each. ¹⁶ Then he made two capitals of cast bronze, to set on the tops of the pillars. The height of one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits. ¹⁷ He made a lattice network, with wreaths of chainwork, for the capitals which were on top of the pillars: seven chains for one capital and seven for the other capital. ¹⁸ So he made the pillars, and two rows of pomegranates above the network all around to cover the capitals that were on top; and thus he did for the other capital.

¹⁹ The capitals which were on top of the pillars in the hall were in the shape of lilies, four cubits. ²⁰ The capitals on the two pillars also had pomegranates above, by the convex surface which was next to the network; and there were ^(ME)two hundred such pomegranates in rows on each of the capitals all around.

^21 (MF)Then he set up the pillars by the vestibule of the temple; he set up the pillar on the right and called its name ^[cr]Jachin, and he set up the pillar on the left and called its name ^[cs]Boaz. ²² The tops of the pillars were in the shape of lilies. So the work of the pillars was finished.

The Sea and the Oxen

²³ And he made ^(MG)the Sea of cast bronze, ten cubits from one brim to the other; it was completely round. Its height was five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference.

²⁴ Below its brim were ornamental buds encircling it all around, ten to a cubit, ^(MH)all the way around the Sea. The ornamental buds were cast in two rows when it was cast. ²⁵ It stood on ^(MI)twelve oxen: three looking toward the north, three looking toward the west, three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east; the Sea was set upon them, and all their back parts pointed inward. ²⁶ It was a handbreadth thick; and its brim was shaped like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It contained ^[ct]two thousand baths.

The Carts and the Lavers

²⁷ He also made ten ^[cu]carts of bronze; four cubits was the length of each cart, four cubits its width, and three cubits its height. ²⁸ And this was the design of the carts: They had panels, and the panels were between frames; ²⁹ on the panels that were between the frames were lions, oxen, and cherubim. And on the frames was a pedestal on top. Below the lions and oxen were wreaths of plaited work. ³⁰ Every cart had four bronze wheels and axles of bronze, and its four feet had supports. Under the laver were supports of cast bronze beside each wreath. ³¹ Its opening inside the crown at the top was one cubit in diameter; and the opening was round, shaped like a pedestal, one and a half cubits in outside diameter; and also on the opening were engravings, but the panels were square, not round. ³² Under the panels were the four wheels, and the axles of the wheels were joined to the cart. The height of a wheel was one and a half cubits. ³³ The workmanship of the wheels was like the workmanship of a chariot wheel; their axle pins, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all of cast bronze. ³⁴ And there were four supports at the four corners of each cart; its supports were part of the cart itself. ³⁵ On the top of the cart, at the height of half a cubit, it was perfectly round. And on the top of the cart, its flanges and its panels were of the same casting. ³⁶ On the plates of its flanges and on its panels he engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, wherever there was a clear space on each, with wreaths all around. ³⁷ Thus he made the ten carts. All of them were of ^[cv]the same mold, one measure, and one shape.